Beckley Police updates security and evidence technology - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Beckley Police take another step forward today to keep their evidence secure. Retired Beckley Police Captain Randy Boyd was hired as the new evidence custodian.

If you remember, back on August 16th, a number of morphine pills were logged and stored in the locker at the Beckley Police department. Gabrielle Brown admitted last year to taking 22 of those pills. She will be sentenced on April 22nd.

59 News walked through with Beckley Police Chief Deems every substantial step they are taking. He said now they have everything they need at their fingertips on a crime scene.

Many changes have been made to make evidence safer and more secure. One of the biggest changes include hiring a new Evidence Custodian and one who is properly qualified.

Randy Boyd is a retired Captain of the Beckley Police Department with over 30 years law enforcement experience.

Security cameras are also now in place as well as a brand new evidence barcoding system. This will streamline the process of receiving, storing and releasing property and evidence through computerized records. There's more.

A new Incident Command Vehicle allows investigators to catalog evidence directly to the Evidence Custodian while still being on the scene of the crime.

"It'll be fully stocked with anything a detective would need to process a crime scene. We can utilize it during major events as an incident command vehicle," Deems said.

With the numerous events held in Beckley which all require police security or traffic control, this vehicle provides a location to centralize command staff and allow for more effective direction of personnel and observation of event crowds. Deems said this technology helps their job be more efficient.

"It allows the detective to concentrate on the investigation and it allows the evidence custodian to be there to help accept the evidence that's been collected," Deems added.

He explained what all these changes mean.

"It allows us to have everything we need at our fingertips at a crime scene. We can call out the evidence custodian who will bring the crime scene vehicle to the scene as opposed to the detective collective evidence to the police department. We will basically be bringing that technology to the scene."